Collaboration between different disciplines, age groups, genders, ethnicities is a must when creating a program that appeals to the demographics emerging in our education system. Building educational tools which do not recognize our differences and similarities are incomplete tools when providing a full education to a young audience.

Abstract

In order to educate the diverse population of our youth in the education system we must broaden our own views of what educational tools should consist of, what concepts need to be taught, how concepts are learned and interpreted for students of varying backgrounds.

The demographics of our students is not the same as it was 50 years ago or even the same as it was 10 years ago, as the student population diversifies, so must our educational tools. These tools must be able to educate a diverse group of students, appeal to their backgrounds and understandings.

These tools must move out of the class rooms and into the homes, these tools must take advantage of our growing technological advancements. And finally these tools must move beyond being tools for students but rather games. Games are what students occupy their times with, and in order to reach the student when not educating them in the classroom, one must use current technology and entertainment to incorporate education into the daily lives of the youth.

In order to create games that appeal to the diversifying student body, one must have a diverse team of specialists that understand the different backgrounds and interests of students.

In this presentation, I will discuss the diversification of the education system, the advancements of technology, how to use technology for education and how collaboration is the best way to reach a broad student audience.

Presenter

Palkin Zed

The author is a developer of the educational game PRIME, a game designed for ages 12 and higher, which educates the user on prime numbers, mathematics and strategy. This game was developed by four students at the University of Nevada, Reno. The students have ethnic backgrounds and education including computer science, art, music, business and philosophy.